About This Masters Degree

Course Description

MSc International Land and Water Management

The two-year Master International Land and Water Management programme focuses on the scientific analysis of land and water management issues at various scales. An integration of physical, technical, socio-economic and political dimensions in various approaches is sought in order to critically analyse, understand and tackle land and water management problems.

Programme summary

The MSc International Land and Water Management focuses on the scientific analysis of the physical, environmental, technical and socio-economic aspects of land and water management and their mutual interactions. Students develop comparative insights into the development of land and water management, take a scientific approach to various research paradigms and acquire a problemoriented, interdisciplinary attitude towards land and water management and rural development issues. Graduates will not only be able to study these issues, but also design and propose sustainable solutions to land and water management problems.

Specialisations

Sustainable Land Management This specialisation deals with the processes, drivers and consequences of land degradation; as well as with interventions and conservation practices for sustainable land management. By providing in-depth knowledge and developing skills in physical and socio-economic aspects, this specialisation prepares students for both research and development jobs. Topics covered range from erosion processes and modelling to impact assessment and strategies, from field scale to watershed and beyond.

Irrigation and Water Management Students in this specialisation obtain extensive knowledge on water usage in agriculture. Irrigation -from the farm level to the watershed level- is the main focus. Topics include irrigation of agricultural land, design of irrigation systems, water justice, distribution issues, equity and gender discussion, improving the social and technical performance of existing farm irrigation systems and practices, and irrigation in its wider water management context.

Adaptive Water Management Increasing human induced pressures on water cycles together with growing demands on water resources ask for careful management of water systems. Students in this specialisation acquire the knowledge, skills and capacity to analyse future- oriented issues in water management and to propose and critically assess management strategies and innovations.

Your future career

Graduates find jobs in a wide range of fields including design and implementation, policy making, project management and research and education. Many find a PhD position at universities worldwide. They are employed by international organisations such as the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN (FAO), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), or NGOs involved in international or national development. Some graduates also work for ministries, water boards and other governmental organisations in the field of international cooperation, such as the Dutch DGIS and the German GIZ, while others find jobs in private or public institutes in their home countries. For graduates interested in design and implementation, there are also job opportunities at international consultancies. In the Netherlands this includes firms such as Arcadis, Grontmij, Antea Group, Euroconsult Mott MacDonald and Royal Haskoning DHV.

Alumna Cecilia Borgia. "After completing my degree, I worked in Mauretania for the Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible (CSIC-IAS) promoting both crop diversification and evaluating the performance of irrigation systems in the Senegal Valley. This has also been the subject of my PhD at the University of Cordoba in Spain. Recently, I returned to Wageningen and joined the consultancy firm MetaMeta where I look at water-food-energy linkages and water governance in Yemen. Water access and management, as well as the interactions between local water governance and new forms of organisation, have been central aspects of my work."

Entry Requirements

Enrolment in a MSc Programme at Wageningen University requires: A BSc degree (or equivalent) in a field of science relevant to your selected programme +A Grade Point Average (GPA) for this BSc of at least 70% of the maximum grade +Fluency in English, both written and spoken +Good skills in mathematics and/or statistics + Basic computer skills (Microsoft Office: Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook; use and structure of the Internet; RSI-prevention)

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